How to launch a food product

You've already proved that your hot cakes can sell, now it's time to get them in front of the mass market's nose. This inspiring all-day event features talks from the entrepreneurs who've done just that. From the economies (and inconveniences) of scaling up a small-scale operation to the best ways to approach major retailers, our speakers will impart hard-earned wisdom learned from their personal experiences of breaking a food brand nationally.

You'll receive advice and ingenuity aplenty from our panel of experts including Jimmy's Iced Coffee founder Jim Cregan, who in just two years has scored space on the shelves of Selfridges, Whole Foods Market, Budgens and Ocado. Other speakers include Martha Swift, founder of Primrose Bakery, whose home kitchen cupcake operation has since spawned shops in Primrose Hill and Covent Garden (plus two cookery books and an app); Ky Wright and Thomas Lavis, who went from a single ice-cream trike to opening the UK's first ever frozen yoghurt store to now having Lick tubs stocked by Sainsbury's and Ocado, and Mark Campbell, director and co-owner of Higgidy, a company of piemakers based in the seaside town of Shoreham-by-Sea, that is one of the fastest growing food manufacturers in the UK.

This course is for you if...

You've launched (or are close to launching) a food business or product, either locally or online, and want to know how to get it onto the shelves of major stores and national chains.

Course description

This is a large-scale, seminar-style event featuring a panel of expert speakers, each discussing the lessons they learned during their own careers, and exploring various strategies for dealing with common setbacks. Topics covered include:

First steps that no one teaches you

From the kitchen table to supermarket shelves

How to gain stockists

Going to market – working with retailers

Cross marketing

Finding a mentor

Pitfalls to look out for

Evidence-based thinking and planning

Strategies for positioning your product

How to improve chances of listing success

Staying positive after knock-backs

Important moments along the journey

Things you wished you knew in advance

What sets you apart from the rest

Speaker profiles

Jim Cregan went to Oz after getting sick and tired of UK winters. During his time there, he found the phenomenon of ready-to-drink iced coffee. After coming home to the UK, he realised that nobody made anything close to what he had on his travels and decided to make his own. Jim teamed up with his sister, Sooz, to found Jimmy's Iced Coffee in November 2010, and they sold their first products on the shelves of Selfridges in April 2011. Since the launch, they've gained listings with WHSmith Travel, Waitrose, Budgens, some lovely independents, Welcome Break and Ocado.

Martha Swift co-founded Primrose Bakery in October 2004 having started out baking for children's parties, but quickly noticed how well the cupcakes went down with adults! Now, 10 years on, there are two shops – one in Primrose Hill and one in Covent Garden – plus three cookbooks (a third on its way) and an app.

Ky Wright is the co-founder of Lick, a business he started with his friend Owain Williams whilst still in secondary school. The pair started with a single ice-cream trike in the sea-side town Tenby, selling home-made frozen yogurt to tourists in summer holidays. They expanded to two trikes the following year, then leased a beach two summers after that and were employing fourteen of their friends and family. By year five they had finished university and saved enough money to open the UK's first ever frozen yogurt store, in Brighton. Today, Lick tubs are on sale in Sainsbury's, Ocado, Wholefoods, LEON, and Lick is listed with some of the biggest catering companies in the world. Thomas Lavis met Ky and Owain at university. He worked in the music industry before joining his two friends at Lick when they launched the retail tubs. Thomas looks after the Lick Music label and sessions, and is responsible for Lick's marketing & social media.

Mark Campbell didn't start his career as a 'pie-merchant'; in fact, after studying architecture, he spent five years managing the operations of humanitarian relief charities in Kenya, Uganda, DR Congo and Afghanistan. In 2007 he returned to the UK to join his former architecture colleague James and his wife Camilla in establishing Higgidy. As Director and Co-owner of the company, Mark heads up the commercial and marketing aspects of the business, managing the growth of the brand and its commercial direction. Higgidy has been in the Fast Track 100 as one of the fastest growing businesses in the UK twice and employs 220 people, making up to 250,000 handmade pies and quiches per week!